Top 100 2010s: 97. SHAKIRA - "Empire" (Patreon)

I don’t have any great insight into “Empire”, I just adore its bombast. Back in 2010, with Gaga ascendant, it felt like records this theatrically demonstrative might be a common occurrence. That hasn’t really happened – a lot of the decade’s pop has felt dialled-down and diffident. That has its virtues - but listening back and rediscovering “Empire” made me feel it as a loss.

Shakira gets no songwriting credit on “Empire”, but the prolific songwriters who do have little in their discographies to match its bravado. Perhaps she encouraged them to take more risks, stretch their journeyman metaphors a little until they ended up with something as absurd and awesome as “the stars make love to the universe”. Which Shakira rightly plays completely straight, following it up with her growled “and I’m like – and I’m like – AND I’M LIKE-“ and then a wordless roar, more triumph than bliss.